WATCH: Giant’s Causeway goes GREEN for St Patrick’s Day

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Una Culkin

Published:11:19Thursday 17 March 2016

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The Giant’s Causeway has been draped by a spectacular blanket of green light to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

According to legend, the columns in Co Antrim are the remains of a causeway built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool), from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner.

The Giant's Causeway has been draped by a spectacular blanket of Green light as it gets ready to celebrate St Patricks Day. PICTURE MATT STEELE/MCAULEY MULTIMEDIA

Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner. In another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he.

Fionn’s wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the ‘baby’, he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants.

He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn could not follow. Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this.

PICTURE MATT STEELE/MCAULEY MULTIMEDIA

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